Comments 410

Re: Best Nintendo Switch 1 & 2 Games Of 2025

Buizel

I agree that some of the placements here seem a bit strange.

It’s almost as if comparing games from different genres and different initial release years is a futile effort

Still, I think the takeaway here is that it’s been a great year to own a Switch or Switch 2. I’ve only scratched the surface of this list and had a great year gaming on these consoles.

Re: Review: Pokémon Legends: Z-A: Mega Dimension (Switch 2) - Repetition Takes The Shine Off

Buizel

@ThatOneLevel To your first point...I'm not sure what you're saying here? I'm not talking about remakes generations later...I'm talking about them selling basically the exact same game 1-2 years later (Yellow, Crystal, etc.)

As for the second point...why is this worse? Surely knowing what's on the horizon is better than buying into a game and then having the rug pulled under you when they later announce you've bought an "incomplete" version.

For the final point - do you have any evidence of this? In fact there have been countless instances of content being "cut" from Pokemon games in previous generations (for better or worse).

Re: Review: Pokémon Legends: Z-A: Mega Dimension (Switch 2) - Repetition Takes The Shine Off

Buizel

@ThatOneLevel Well before DLC we had them having us rebuy games after 1-2 years to get new content. Not sure that's the model we want to aspire to. I also think base Z-A has plenty of content. Maybe not the most of any game ever...but it didn't feel incomplete to me.

That said, I do agree with the review on this DLC. As someone who really enjoyed the base game, I do get some enjoyment of having more content...but it's exactly that, just more content. The gameplay loop of going into the alternate dimension was interesting at first, but got repetitive quite quickly.

Re: Pokémon Legends: Z-A Was The Best-Selling Nintendo Game In October (US)

Buizel

@Dom_31 I’m tempted to agree. Defo the most fun I’ve had with a Pokemon game in the past decade at least…and I’ve been enjoying the recent Pokemon games despite their flaws.

And I’m seeing a lot of similar sentiment from people who have played the game. There are genuine things to be critical about, but most of the online criticism is uninformed and seems to be from people who haven’t even played the game.

Re: Opinion: Pokémon Legends Z-A Is The Creepiest Entry Yet, Not In A Good Way

Buizel

I get the idea, but this feels beyond nitpicky at this point.

Sure, it's not ideal, but there are plenty of highly-rated, modern games where the NPCs are also fairly static. No-one is complaining about those.

I'm glad they focused more on the Pokemon's movements and integrating them into the city. Pretty cool just to be wandering about the city and stumbling upon wild pidgey, fletchling, etc.

Re: Poll: Has Donkey Kong Bananza Made You Feel Ill?

Buizel

I've found myself a little sensitive to this in other recent games (Metaphor: Refantazio and Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 come to mind, also the 60 fps update to Pokemon Scarlet/Violet) and tbh it's largely something that bothers me about first-person games. But not once did it cross my mind with DK. Camera was a bit of a bother at first though.

5% is quite a shocking proportion to find the game unplayable due to motion sickness though. I hope this isn't representative.

Re: Look, Maybe We Should Stop Asking For A Sonic Adventure Remaster

Buizel

Part of me agrees with him, and he may in part be responding to the criticism Sonic Adventure DX has been receiving the past couple of decades. Sonic Adventure has not aged particularly well - a straight up rerelease / remaster would have quite a niche audience, and even then many will complain if it isn't "perfect" / includes issues present in the DX releases.

I'm tempted to agree with @Maxz that SEGA should just do a quick-and-dirty budget release (perhaps NSO) and leave it at that. But I would argue that they should do the Dreamcast version this time round.

This game is dying for a remake or reimagining. But that is exactly the extra work that Iizuka is talking about...

Re: Check Out This New YouTube Channel For Negativity-Free Pokémon Chat

Buizel

Great, we need more positivity in gaming discourse.

I don't think the Pokemon series is perfect, but similarly I'm kinda fed up with the constant negativity around the series, esp. from those that haven't even played the recent games. It's not that the games need to be shielded from criticism - it's that everyone on the internet is a critic and it can be tiresome hearing the same complaints (which tbh often amount to the same thing) when all you want to do is discuss something you enjoy.

Re: Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds Gets Ready To Race With A New Rating Down Under

Buizel

@Ploppy It's not even necessarily a moral issue (I'm not here saying I'm "boycotting" SEGA or anything) - it's more just protecting my best interests as a consumer.

Why would I buy a Switch version of their game when: (i) I'll be fully invested in the Switch 2 by that point, including having probably the better kart racer in Mario Kart World, (ii) if they were to release a Switch 2 version later down the line, chances are I'd have the buy the game all over again.

So best I just avoid this one for now and see what happens with a Switch 2 version.

Re: PSA: You Can Use Mouse Controls On The Switch 2 HOME Menu

Buizel

@Orpheus79V Yeah this is my thought...I don't really see how fine control of a cursor is any easier than a quick nudge of the analog stick / d-pad when the menu has a total of a dozen or so items.

Options are great though. I'm just personally not seeing any cases where I'll opt for the Switch 2 mouse controls.

Re: Talking Point: With Prices Rising, Are Your Gaming Habits Changing?

Buizel

I'm in the process of changing my gaming/purchasing habits, but not directly because of the price increase this gen.

There's two interconnected issues really: time and money. I think money-wise I'm in theory okay, but the rapid availability of cheap games has actually led to frivolous purchases and I've ended up with a dreaded "backlog" of games which, in all honesty, I'll never get around to. Because time.

Really I've learnt I need to be more selective about what I buy and dedicate my time to. It doesn't matter if I own all the games in the world if I never play them, or don't enjoy playing them.

So what am I dedicating my time to? Nintendo rarely let me down, so I'm happy to pay a premium for their games. I would rather one amazing Nintendo game for £75 than 8 £10 games that I'm only moderately interested in.

And it looks like Switch 2 will have some excellent third party support, so I'm wondering if I'll be buying much for my PS5, Xbox or PC at all. I can see myself being ~90% Switch 2 this gen.

Also recognising that great games offer a lifetime of value. I bought Mario Kart 8 twice and it was worth every penny. Hell, I'd say half of my gaming time is replaying old favourites.

Re: Opinion: Clair Obscur: Expedition 33's Best Gameplay Feature Is Straight Out Of Mario's Playbook

Buizel

The parrying/dodging seems quite divisive. Seems a lot of people absolutely love it, and then others find it to be the worst part of the game. Personally in my couple of hours with the game I wasn't a fan - the timing felt a little off to me, and I found it very difficult to tell from enemies' animations when they were about to hit. Turning the difficulty down to easy helped with the timing windows at least, but I'd like to see an optional glint of light or similar to assist with timing.

That said everything else about the game seems great, including the wider JRPG mechanics. I'm just not enamoured with this one mechanic.

Re: Opinion: It's Time To Get Rid Of Fall Damage

Buizel

Gonna echo the other comments here saying it's is a decision to be on a game-by-game basis.

One series where I think fall damage (well, fall death) makes sense is Tomb Raider - particularly the original series. Partly for realism - it wouldn't make sense for Lara to land 100m off a cliff edge unscathed - but I feel it's pretty baked into the level design here - dictating the way in which you explore and ensuring you can't skip whole sections of the level (and IIRC there are quite a few levels that are centred around verticality).

On the other hand I can't think of a single JRPG that needs it.

Re: Opinion: No One Is Talking About The Switch 2's Best Feature

Buizel

I always found rumble quite jarring in handheld mode on the Switch, and would turn it off only a few months into the Switch's life. It never felt quite right having the whole system shake.

Now I don't even bother with rumble in docked. IDK I'm at the point where I find it more distracting than I find it immersive.

Re: Poll: So, How Would You Rate The Nintendo Switch 2 Direct?

Buizel

Honestly shocked to see this considered anything less than a 9/10...it was a definite 10/10 for me. Perhaps the most excited I've been for a new console ever.

I was sold the moment they showed off Mario Kart, but they just kept showing more and more. Looking like a strong start to the system.

Re: Poll: Which Starter Pokémon Will You Choose In Legends: Z-A?

Buizel

Wow, I didn't realise Tepig was so disliked.

Meh, we've got two Johto starters which are fine but they've already been in many games prior (GSC, Colosseum, HGSS) and they're monotypes so hard to get excited about.

And I'm just not keen on Tepig and the Unova starters in general.

I'll probably go with Totodile as probably the most preferable of quite a poor selection.

Tbh I wish they'd just given us the Kalos starters. They've barely had any exposure over the years.

Re: Opinion: We Need More Couch Co-op RPGs

Buizel

This was always something I loved about Tales of Symphonia on the Gamecube, although in practice it was always difficult to get the people together for it. FF Crystal Chronicles was also a great example - but again, difficult to set up in practice.

I think it's nice when it's given as an option, but I wouldn't expect developers to bend over backwards for it, and tbh I'd want my RPGs to first and foremost be single player experiences.

Re: Opinion: Forget Themes, I Want A Switch 2 Start-Up Jingle

Buizel

My first system was the Gameboy Color. I remember launching up the Gameboy Advance for the first time and being blown away by the colours and sound on my screen...and the game hadn't even loaded yet!

I wouldn't mind a similarly iconic startup for the Switch 2, but functionally we're in a much difference place to 20 years ago. When I pick up my Switch the game opens in practically an instant - a jingle risks slowing this process down. But I'm sure Nintendo can still add some character - I personally think the Switch's "click" motif is pretty iconic, even if I have more love for GBA/Gamecube's jingles.

Re: Banjo-Kazooie Composer Has "Zero Hope" For A New Entry

Buizel

@Bluerangervegeta Eh, I'm willing to meet you halfway here. I agree that B-K is overrated and doesn't hold up nearly as well as people will have you believe. But similarly I think Y-L isn't any worse than B-K and most of its strengths and flaws are aligned with those of B-K. I think it was unfairly maligned in the sense that I wouldn't have expected much more from a spiritual successor to B-K - I personally think it was very faithful but maybe that was its downfall.

Re: Banjo-Kazooie Composer Has "Zero Hope" For A New Entry

Buizel

I kinda see his point here. Yooka-Laylee was a pretty faithful spiritual successor and was unfairly maligned IMO.

I think for Banjo-Kazooie to make a real comeback they'd have to do something big and innovative, which I don't quite trust Microsoft to do at this point.

Re: Sega Is "Evaluating" Its Own Netflix-Style Subscription Service

Buizel

I don't understand why anyone but a platform holder feels they can get away with this. I love SEGA but they publish maybe 4, 5 worthwhile games a year at most? And I personally don't get around to all of them, nor would I expect anyone but the most diehard of fans to. The subscription would have to be pretty damn cheap for me to forgo just buying the games outright given the option.

Unless the idea is to not have the option...? If this is about their back catalogue and the delisting...yeah this seems rather scummy.

Re: Atlus Lead Explains Why Persona Protagonists Are High School Males

Buizel

Hmmm not sure I buy "mental age" as a reason for choosing a male protagonist...the Persona protagonists are arguably extremely mentally mature for their age, regardless of gender. I think Persona 4, 5 and 3 Reload could've reasonably been adjusted to feature a female protagonist option as well.

The age and high-school setting makes sense though. Add to that - a working adult probably wouldn't have nearly the free time required for these types of games.